The USWNT’s generational transition is behind schedule, for a wide range of reasons: the pandemic, the 2019 World Cup-winning squad having unfinished business in the 2020 (i.e. 2021) Olympics after not medaling in the 2016 Games, plus the reframing of a post-Olympics victory tour into a farewell tour. Therefore, for the 2022 SheBelieves Tournament to be a total success, it was important to not only cement Catarina Macario as the future, they needed other young talents to burst into stardom as well.
Ashley Sanchez obliged.
With Rose Lavelle picking up an ankle injury against Czech Republic, Sanchez was handed back-to-back starts against New Zealand and Iceland.